How to cook squid for salad. How to cook frozen squid without defrosting. How to cook frozen squid

Seafood is often used for salads because of its healthiness and taste. For example, squid. The taste of the finished dish is determined by how correctly they are cooked. Therefore, you need to know some rules on how to cook squid for salad.

Selection of seafood carcasses

If we talk about the usefulness of the product, they are very rich in various microelements, vitamins and proteins. Also, their use promotes the secretion of gastric juice. In addition, squid has a very affordable price compared to other seafood.

When making a purchase, you should pay attention to some factors. Basically, we sell squid frozen, however, if you have the opportunity to buy a fresh product, you should prefer it. This way you can see how fresh the squid is.

If you do not have the opportunity to buy fresh squid, then it is better to purchase a frozen carcass unpeeled. The skin can be an excellent indicator of the freshness of this seafood.

The presence of yellow or gray-white color, the absence of whiteness of the meat inside the squid indicates that the product is stale.

Also, staleness is indicated by the unpleasant smell of old fish; after cooking, a bitter aftertaste will appear in the product. This may well be an indicator of improper storage.

Squid cleaning

If, nevertheless, you chose unpeeled seafood, now you need to completely clean it. There are two ways.

The first is to quickly dip the carcass in boiling water. The peel, almost all of it, curls up. Rinse the squid further under cold water, removing any remaining skin. You also need to remember to clean the skin from the wings and remove the internal chitinous plates.

The second way to remove the skin is to lightly pry it near the place where the tentacles used to be. Pull it towards the tail - it should come off well and immediately. But this is easy to achieve only if the storage technology is not compromised.

If there are pieces of film left, scrape it off very carefully with a rounded knife.

How to cook squid for salad

To prepare delicious squid for salad, you need to prepare a marinade.

We will need:

2 liters of water per 1 kg of squid;
2 tablespoons salt;
3 tablespoons sugar;
1.5-2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar;
5 allspice peas;
2 bay leaves.

Place everything in a saucepan and boil the marinade. Let it simmer well.

Dip the squid in small portions into the marinade; their cooking time should be no more than one minute, maybe up to two minutes maximum.

Otherwise, your carcasses will acquire a rubbery taste.

Then remove them from the heat and let cool in the marinade.

Unused squid can be stored in the marinade in the refrigerator for a while.

How long does it take to cook squid for salad?

Do not cook them, pour boiling water over them the first time, let the thin skin curl, then drain the water, peel off the chord, and pour boiling water over again 2 times, after each time let it sit for 5-10 minutes, if you cook, there is a chance that you will overcook them and they will be tough
How long to cook squid
Cook the squid in boiling water for 1-2 minutes under the lid.
Or, you can cook the squid for half a minute after boiling, turn off the heat and leave for 10 minutes.
Cook the squid rings for 1 minute.
How to cook squid
1. If the squid is frozen and not fresh, defrost the squid. Wash fresh or thawed squids and place in boiling water (the water should cover the squids completely).
2. Squid is salted after cooking during the preparation of a common dish (for example, salad).
3. You can clean the squid both before and after cooking.
4. Before preparing a common dish, boiled squid must be cooled and cleaned - remove hard plates from the squid carcass and remove the film, preferably from the base to the “wings”.

Tips for boiling squid

When cooked for more than 3 minutes, squids tend to shrink in size and turn into tight rubber. However, if you accidentally overcook the squid, cook it for a total of 20 minutes - then the squid will return to softness, although it will decrease by almost 2 times in size.
After boiling, the squid can be fried along with a side dish (rice, potatoes).
After boiling, just cut the squid into rings, sprinkle with lemon juice and salt - you will have a ready-made dish.
Pre-defrosted squid can be cooked in the microwave - on maximum microwave mode for 1 minute, sprinkled with oil, lemon juice and spices before cooking. The result is squid cooked in its own juice.
Cook the squid in a double boiler for 5 minutes.
First, the squid must be cut. Cut off the head. Carefully insert two fingers inside the carcass, feel the insides and pull them out. Place the squid in hot but not boiling water for three minutes, after which the skin will come off quite easily, just press the squid to a cutting board and remove the skin with your fingers. Then carefully cut off the wings from the carcass and remove the skin from them in exactly the same way.
The next thing to do is remove the inner frame. These are plates that look like polyethylene.
Cut off the tentacles. The carcass, depending on the size of the squid and the recipe chosen, can be left whole, cut into strips or rings, or finely chopped.
Defrosting squid meat - be it a carcass or rings - should be done in warm, not hot water; if the meat turns pink, this is a sure sign that you are defrosting it incorrectly.
If you bought squid rings, then there is no longer a problem with cutting and removing the skin - the rings are ready for further cooking.
After the squid meat is ready for further processing, the question may arise: how to cook it, because many salads involve boiled squid. Therefore, here is how to cook squid:
Dip the prepared meat into salted boiling water. Cook the squid for a short time over low heat. 2-3 minutes is considered sufficient. You can check the readiness of the meat by eye. As soon as the meat turns white, keep it in boiling water for another ten seconds and you’re done. If you overcook the squid, the meat will be tough and rubbery in taste. Remove them from the water with a slotted spoon, cut the carcasses into rings or strips - and use them for a further purpose.
How to properly boil squid for salad? First of all, throw away all those stupid books that teach you to cook squid for 3-5 minutes or more. Such advisers should be brought to court for false information or intentional sabotage. I am sure that most “non-fans” of squid have tried it prepared in these savage ways.
Take cleaned and defrosted squid.
Boil water in a separate saucepan. Add salt, bay leaf, and peppercorns to the water. Drop the squids into boiling water one at a time. Lower one first. Count quickly to ten and remove the squid with a slotted spoon. Wait for the water to boil again and lower the next squid. Some of my friends don’t cook squid for salad at all. They simply pour boiling water over the already cleaned squids again, then drain the water and sprinkle the half-raw carcasses with vinegar.

If you have squids with heads and tentacles, then first you need to get rid of all the inedible parts.

Toshiyuki IMAI/Flickr.com

Take the squid carcass in one hand, and with the other grab the head near the eyes. Gently pull - along with the head and tentacles, you will remove part of the insides. The rest can be removed when you skin it.

The tentacles are usually discarded with the head, but they can be used. To do this, you need to cut them off near the eyes. Be sure to remove the squid's mouth when doing this - it is hard and hides among the tentacles.

But usually you don’t have to bother with all this. In stores, as a rule, they sell frozen squid in a semi-cut form: without heads and tentacles.

The carcasses (biologists would say the mantle) are covered with a red and white film, which is laborious and time-consuming to clean with a knife.

To quickly clean squid, you need to pour boiling water over them, keep them in hot water for about a minute and rinse them under running water. Some housewives treat carcasses like they treat pasta: pour boiling water in a colander and immediately turn on cold water.

Under the influence of high temperature, the skin will easily and quickly come off the carcass. You only have to remove its residue when washing. Next, the squid can be cut lengthwise to remove the chitinous plate and entrails.

But you don’t have to disturb the cylindrical shape of the mantle: the insides and chitinous plate can be easily removed with your fingers. Whole squid can be stuffed or cut into rings.

Method 1. “Cold start”

Place the cleaned squids in a saucepan with cold water. Place the pan on the stove and turn on medium heat. When the water warms up, add a little salt, and when it boils, turn it off immediately and catch the carcasses.

Like many other seafood, squid does not tolerate heat treatment well. If you cook the shellfish for a long time, the meat will be tough, like a rubber sole.

The main secret to cooking squid is not to overcook it.

It is important not to delay the moment of boiling. You literally have to stay close to the pan.

Method 2. Boiling in hot water

Bring lightly salted water to a boil. When the first bubbles appear, launch the squid. The boiling will stop for a while, and as soon as it resumes, you need to turn it off immediately.

Here, too, it is very important not to overcook the meat in boiling water.

Method 3. Filling with boiling water

Many consider this method the most correct and claim that squid prepared in this way is the most tender and tasty.

You need to fill it three times. The first time is when you pour boiling water over the squid to remove the skin.

The second time you need to leave the peeled shellfish in boiling water for one minute. After this, rinse the carcasses with water and boil the kettle again. After the third pouring (holding time is also 60 seconds) and washing, the squids are ready to eat. You can add salt to the bowl each time you pour it.

Some housewives immediately cut or stuff them. Others remove the still transparent film from the carcasses.

Method 4. Combined

The highlight of this method is that the squid is cooked immediately. The skinning stage is combined with the boiling process.

Salt boiling water: approximately 1 tablespoon per 3 liters of water. Place defrosted squid in it. You will see how the mantles of the mollusks become voluminous and the red and white film comes off from them.

Wait for the interrupted boil to resume and time for 1.5–2.5 minutes. Cook the squid at a vigorous boil, uncovered. After the specified time has passed, the pan must be removed from the heat and covered with a lid.

Let the squid cool for 10-15 minutes. After this, rinse them under running water, remove the remaining skin, entrails and chord plate.

Alternatively, you can immediately place the carcasses in a bowl of cold water, thereby stopping the heat treatment.

Boiled squid can be used in salads, fried in rings in batter, stuffed with various fillings.

Kevin/Flickr.com

The described methods for preparing squid are very simple and take a minimum of time. Try all four to see which one produces the most tender squid for your taste.

Do you know other secrets of cooking squid? Share in the comments.

Squids are not only very healthy, but also very tasty. True, there are some subtleties in their preparation, which, in fact, are the key to turning squid meat into a delicacy. For example, if you cook them too long, the squid will become tough. However, speaking about the secrets of correct and successful preparation of squid, it is worth noting not only its heat treatment.

Squid selection and preparation

The key to successful preparation of squid is the choice of a quality product. When purchasing, you need to pay close attention to the color of the meat. In good fresh squid it is whitish, even completely white. Yellowness will indicate that the carcass has been stored for too long, even in the refrigerator.

When buying ice-glazed squid, you need to inspect it. If there is an ice crust on the surface, then most likely the glaze layer is too thick and after defrosting it will turn out that not so much meat was purchased. This also happens if squid carcasses were thawed and then frozen again. In this case, you cannot eat them at all.

After cooking, the meat of small squid will be the juiciest and most tender - this is what you should look for in the store in the first place.

It is best to buy squid without tentacles and heads. Then, after defrosting, you just need to remove the film from them. If you still bought whole carcasses, you will have to cut them yourself. It is not difficult. You need to take the squid's head, grasping the eye area with your fingers, and then pull the rest of the part, holding it with the other hand. This way you will clean the carcass from the insides. Then you need to remove the chitinous film. It can be felt with your hand without any problems, so there are no special problems with freeing the squid carcass from it.

The worst thing is to remove the outer reddish-white film. To make this step easier, you can use a trick: pour hot, but by no means boiling, water over the squid, and after a minute remove it from the water and rinse it under the tap. After this, the film is easily picked up with a knife and thus removed from the carcass.

Cleaned squid meat can be prepared in different ways.

Cooking squid in a double boiler

Perhaps the most tender squid is obtained in a double boiler.

For 2-3 small squid carcasses you need to take 3 bay leaves and 3 peppercorns. Place the cleaned squids in a steamer. Pour water into a suitable container and place the pepper and bay leaf there. Set the timer for 9 minutes. Do not open the steamer during cooking7

By the way, if you don’t have a double boiler, then it’s quite possible to create one from a saucepan, gauze and a colander. Thus, you will need to cook the squid for 6 minutes rather than 9. Remove the finished meat, add salt and serve.

Cooking squid in the microwave

For those who like to cook everything in the microwave, there is great news - squid meat is no exception. You will need 90 ml of water, 2 small carcasses, salt to taste and 20 g of freshly squeezed lemon juice.

The squid should be washed and dried on a paper towel. Mix water with lemon juice and salt. Place the squid meat in a container, add a mixture of water and lemon juice and cover with a lid that has a steam release function. Then we place it in the microwave and cook it. For a power of 700 Watts, 2-3 minutes are enough; if you have more powerful equipment, then, accordingly, the cooking time is reduced.

Cooking squid on the stove

This is a traditional way to prepare squid meat. For carcasses with a total weight of 900 g, you need to take 2 liters of water and 25 g of salt. This is a little more than 1 teaspoon. We put water and salt on the fire, and when the liquid boils, immerse the previously prepared squid in it. After 2 minutes the product is ready, it must be removed from the water and allowed to cool.

How to cook frozen squid

There are two options here - with and without defrosting. In the first case, you need to cook using any of the methods described above, but only after the carcasses have thawed. Do not use warm water or a microwave oven for defrosting. You will have to wait until the process takes place naturally.

If you decide not to defrost the meat, you will first need to pour boiling water over it on both sides, then rinse it under running water - this will help remove the film. Place frozen squid carcasses into boiling water and after 2.5-3 minutes they are ready to eat.

Boiling squid rings

You can cook squid not whole, but cut into rings. In this case, it is best to cook them in water with the addition of lemon juice and herbs. For 2 liters you will need 30 g of salt and 40 g of lemon juice, as well as 20 g of any herbs. Place all the ingredients in the water; as soon as it boils, throw the squid rings into the pan. They cook in no more than 1 minute, and if the rings are thin, then about 40 seconds. They need to be removed from the water and allowed to cool.

This seafood is very nutritious. Squid meat contains many vitamins and microelements valuable for humans: vitamins B, C, PP, calcium, iodine, manganese, iron. A properly prepared product is easily digested and has a delicate, pleasant taste.

How to select and prepare squid for cooking

Fresh squid can rarely be found on sale; as a rule, frozen carcasses arrive on the shelves. What you need to pay attention to when choosing seafood:

the fillet must be white (otherwise the product is spoiled);
skin color can be either grayish-whitish or light pink;
Large squids, which have dense, elastic meat, are suitable for the salad, and small carcasses are ideal for stuffing, as they are tender and soft;
frozen fillets should be easily separated from each other; if the carcasses are stuck together, they have already been frozen several times;
Eating expired products is hazardous to health, so pay attention to the expiration date.

Before cooking seafood at home, it should be defrosted. To do this, the mollusks are placed in a container with cold or warm water (but not hot) and left for a while. After defrosting, the carcasses should be peeled. The easiest way to remove the film is to first pour boiling water over the product. It is necessary to clean squid not only by removing the skin, but also the insides and bones.

How long to cook squids until they are soft?

Some housewives do not know how to properly cook squid, so they avoid preparing dishes containing this ingredient. Meanwhile, this is a very simple process that does not require any special skills. The main thing is to prevent prolonged cooking of seafood. If you keep the carcasses in boiling water for longer than the required time, instead of tender and soft meat, you will get tough and tasteless meat. How many minutes to cook squid? It all depends on the form in which you are going to prepare the product.

Peeled

Delicious seafood is prepared very easily and quickly. How to cook peeled squid:

fill the pan with water, wait until it boils;
add salt and seasonings to the water;
Place thawed and peeled shellfish in boiling water for 2 minutes (the meat should turn white), then drain the water;
if you have overcooked the product, leave the pan on the fire for another 30 minutes - during this time the fillet will become soft again;
After boiling the carcasses, cut them into rings and serve with beer.

Unrefined

How to cook squid with film? There is no big difference in the method of cooking unpeeled and “naked” carcasses - the difference lies in the time required for cooking. How to boil squid in skin:

defrost the carcasses;
place a pan of water on the stove;
when the liquid begins to boil, add bay leaf, salt, allspice;
lower the carcasses into the pan, turn off the heat and cover the container with a lid so that the steam does not leave it;
After 10 minutes, remove the seafood from the water.

How to cook squid, frozen in rings

It is more convenient to cook a whole clam than rings, since it will be difficult to quickly remove all the pieces from boiling water. In addition, rings are easier to digest than large carcasses. However, if you have already purchased sliced goods, there are several ways to cook squid rings:

First option. Boil water, adding spices to taste. This can be bay leaf, white/black pepper, herbs, etc. Using a slotted spoon, place a couple of rings in boiling water, counting to 10, and remove them. So boil all the pieces one by one. Serve the cooked dish chilled.
Second option. Pour all the rings into boiling water, wait a minute and remove the container from the heat. The pieces can be removed from the water after 3 minutes. You shouldn’t keep them in liquid for longer, otherwise they will become “rubbery.”
Third method. Boil half a liter of water and season it with spices. Place the thawed rings inside, close the dish and immediately remove from the stove. Do not open the lid for 5 minutes, after which the dish will be ready to eat.
Fourth way. Fill the multicooker halfway with water, turn on the “Stew” option. Add seasonings (you can use paprika, any pepper, marjoram, cloves, lemon juice, etc.). After the liquid boils, place the rings in the bowl and leave to cook for 1-2 minutes. You can tell when they are ready by their white color - then the pieces can be removed.

How to cook squid for salad. How to cook frozen squid without defrosting. How to cook frozen squid

Selection of seafood carcasses

Squid cleaning